


Giving Up

by Ruriska



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Angst, Break Up, M/M, Short One Shot, first fanfic in years and it's sadfic, kotetsu pls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-07-29 20:41:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7698700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruriska/pseuds/Ruriska
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's better this way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Giving Up

They only last a year.

Kotetsu starts counting from the first kiss. Tired but exultant after a tough battle, Barnaby’s mouth on his. His surprise melting into warmth and wanting. They had fumbled their way through the first night, both uncertain how to proceed but willing to try.

It wasn't enough. 

It was always going to end this way, Kotetsu tells himself. He was too old. Barnaby has too bright a future ahead. He doesn’t need to be shackled to a lonely man, with powers slowly dwindling. The mighty roar of his Hundred Power is now a thin trickle, a pathetic whine of fifteen seconds. No matter how many times Barnaby tells him it doesn’t matter, it does. Kotetsu just can’t keep up anymore.

For a few fleeting moments, Kotetsu believed it would be alright anyway. With his hands curled into Barnaby’s hair and a soft groan on his lips (“Oh Bunny, my Bunny.”), he had entertained hope. 

But as the months went by, it was so clear that Barnaby deserved better. Kotetsu just wasn’t enough. Even if he seemed happy now, he wouldn’t be forever. 

The fights began.

‘You’re embarrassed by me.’  
‘I’m not.’

‘You don’t love me.’  
‘I do.’

When Barnaby asked if they would ever tell Kaede about their relationship, he only stammered and redirected the conversation. 

When Barnaby made hints to their friends, he covered it with too-loud laughter.

This is for the best, Kotetsu tells himself, slowly pushing Barnaby away.

They’ve been through so much together.

The perfect partners.

No, I’m just holding him back, Kotetsu reminds himself over and over. It doesn’t make it any easier but it gets him through the day.

They make love, desperately. 

His grip on Barnaby’s hip is bruising. His teeth graze the skin of his collarbone. Barnaby keens and rises up beneath him. (“Please Kotetsu, please!”)

He knows Barnaby is trying to hold on but Kotetsu has to let him go. There will be someone out there, young and vibrant, strong and bright. Someone not shackled to memories or self-doubt. It’s for the best. It really is.

“You give up on me too easily,” Barnaby accuses, voice cold and eyes glistening with unshed tears. He packs his bags, shoving his clothes into it without his usual care. 

Kotetsu watches and says nothing.

Barnaby says many more things before he leaves but it’s those words that strike the deepest. They lodge in Kotetsu’s heart and promise to eat away at him for the rest of his life. 

When he’s gone, Kotetsu wanders into the bedroom they shared. He lies down on the bed, curls up his legs. Hates himself. “I’ll never give up on you, Bunny,” he tells the cold space beside him, hand outstretched in search of someone who isn’t there and never will be again. “I only give up on myself.”

**Author's Note:**

> There's a moment in 'The Rising' when Kotetsu races to find Barnaby but when he sees him with Golden Ryan, he stops and just watches as they drive away. That whole movie you could feel his despair and uncertainty. His whole purpose in life is being taken away. It broke my heart.
> 
> Unbeta'd and probably a mess.


End file.
